


Baby You Are Really Hurting Me

by Rumoris



Category: South Park
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), M/M, Mutual Pining, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-03-26 21:15:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13866159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rumoris/pseuds/Rumoris
Summary: Whenever they went to a party Kenny acted as a mother hen, trying to keep them from doing something stupid in their drunken stupor. He got used to most of their shenanigans, however he wasn't ready to get his heart broken in the process.





	1. Chapter 1

            Kenny wasn’t the biggest fan of alcohol. His dislike was etched deeply in his mind since it was one of the causes for their poverty and social stigma. Every penny went on the damned bottles, furthermore he saw it how many times drinking stripped his parents and Kevin out of logic and humanity, so he made a vow. For Karen’s sake, he will be sober and never touch alcohol, even if his friends begging him to do it. Hell, he will be sober for the entirety of South Park, if that will prevent her sister from following their family’s footsteps.

            However, his promise didn’t prohibit parties as long as nobody tried to force alcohol down his throat. This is how he ended up escorting his friends as the sober head of the four and kept his eyes on them as they relaxed among the rest of the partygoers. Okay, Cartman could get alcohol poisoning for all he cared.

            The moment they entered the house Kenny decided to avoid him and his enlightening speeches which grew more aggressive with each can of beer Cartman consumed. Stan had Wendy to hold his hand in the childish drinking competitions…

            Well, upon closer inspection, lately he only attended parties to laugh at the others’ drunkenness and keep an eye on Kyle, the fourth member of their group. The redhead couldn’t hold his liquor that well and while Kenny loved running his hand through those soft red locks whenever he had a chance, he wasn’t so keen on doing that over a toilet while Kyle emptied the contents of his stomach.

 

            In order to prevent this, his plan for this party was the following: Most importantly, have fun; let Kyle drink until his so-called “reporter” stage and take him home before he passes out.

            Though he had to admit, the reporter stage was actually quite entertaining. Kyle got hell-bent on explaining anything that came up in their discussions, magnifying his knowledge on the topic while being extremely pushy and curious to hear out whoever he was talking to. On a second thought… he should call that the professor stage.

 

            The “have fun” part already started when they arrived, since most people were already knees deep in alcohol and for Kenny, the highlight of the party was watching the hilarious scenes unfold in front of him. Also winning in that silly cockroach card game by being the only one who could still make a difference between carrots and peppers.

            In reality, the game shared the same difficulty level with UNO. The only difference being that they had to put together a soup using cards with pictures of vegetables, if someone made a mistake in the recipe or put down the same card twice they had to eat it, collecting every card they put down in the middle. 

             It was a nonsense board game, but with some added alcohol everything became ten times better. Even the boys were giggling like schoolgirls whenever someone had to pretend slurping the soup.

            Seeing Kyle so lost because he forgot the word onion or just nonchalantly putting down a card with picture of a leek, while shouting carrot, then getting into a fight with Clyde because “That’s not what onions look like” and Token shouting “Eat the soup, Broflovski!”

“You’re not my mom!” he shot back, but eventually accepted his defeat and imitated the most pathetic slurping sound Kenny ever heard. An ear to ear smile was plastered on his face as he began a new cycle, or soup with the picture of a potato.

            After Kenny triumphed at the game, he followed Kyle as he drifted from board game to a newer board game in his adorably tipsy state, breaking into monologues whenever someone gave him enough time to speak. When the monologues slowly turned into complaints about nobody following the goddamned written rules Kenny decided to remove Kyle from the party.

 

“I’d have won.” he huffed on their way home.

Kenny nodded in agreement. “‘course.”

            Nobody ever listened to the poor boy, voice of reason even in their sober state, so it was simply impossible for him to win an argument against a bunch of drunk high schoolers. This however didn’t stop Kyle from ranting and constantly growling under his breath about not being able to prove his truth.

“Like, dude, rule books are the whole reason those games are fun in the first place. And they just… argh.”

            Kenny looked at him with a confused expression, but slowly a wide grin appeared on his face. “Did you just growl… like a dinosaur?”

             He teased Kyle, but the other just threw his arms in the air.

“I have the right to growl at stupidity!”

“I’m pretty sure there is a better word for that, than a raptor’s mating cry.” smirked Kenny. “And there I thought you were the voice of reason.”

“For one, it isn’t even possible to know what raptors sounded like, because we don’t have… but damn, bones left of them! Apparently, Jurassic Park is a big lie!” he rambled on. “Everything is just fantasy regarding dinosaurs! Believe me, I know it thanks to Ike because he just wouldn’t shut up about dinosaurs when he was 4, then he went to pirates and now I know how to defeat the Wither in Minecraft despite the fact that we never really went for the bosses when we played. Like, did you know they blow up when you summon them? Because I know it… And it’s so stupid…” then he grew silent as if continuing his rant in his head. He didn’t even notice Kenny pulling him back, when he almost fell in the bushes near a crosswalk while they changed directions.

            As they walked down the streets Kenny firmly held onto Kyle, or rather, he did his best to keep him in place. At first, he tried dragging him by the arm, but the redhead kept pulling him toward the road with his entire weight. Kenny then tried holding his shoulders, but they lacked support and Kyle almost fell face first into the ground when he’d stumbled over a rock. In the end, he settled with holding Kyle by his side, sneaking an arm over his back from behind.

            Yet even in this silly setting, he couldn’t help but let out a tiny sigh at the contact. He could be selfish once a year, right? And Kyle didn’t seem to protest for now, so he might as well enjoy their closeness. This was something he normally wouldn’t allow himself anyway.

“I know so many things, but I never get to tell them to anyone.” he complained as they reached the front door of the Broflovski household.

“I’ll listen to anything just please, be quiet now,” he asked Kyle in hushed tone. They will be in trouble if Sheila finds out Kyle got himself drunk and Kenny wasn’t in the mood to get strangled by an enraged mother.

“Oh.” Kyle said finally. His mind got to the point where is information processing slowed down, but somehow seemed to understand their situation.

“Don’t _oh_ to me, fuckwit!”

 

            He decided to let go of Kyle in order to put his hands into his pockets hoping to find the front door key. It was already 1am. Any sane person in South Park would lock their door. He murmured a silent _yes_ under his breath, when he finally managed to fish out the keys from the midst of used tissues.

“I don’t think they are at home,” Kyle said at last.

“You don’t _think_ …?!” Kenny hissed back at him. Ah, so this is how Kyle felt all the time when he had to witness their idiocy… God, how much he hated being the mother hen, no wonder the boy was annoyed almost all day of the year.

            Kenny grunted trying to drag Kyle upstairs. “Alright, let’s get you to bed! Now raise your leg.”

“Wa-w-waiiit!”

“What now?”

            Kyle chuckled like he just came up with the joke of the century. “Shouldn’t I raise my leg after I’m _in_ bed?”

            Kenny only looked at him in disbelief as faint red coloured his cheeks. They are so not going to have this conversation right now.

“Kyle, no!”

“Kyle, yes!”

            It was his job to act like a resident pervert. Nobody has the right to dethrone him, especially not Kyle.

            Soft giggles escaped Kyle’s lips as he watched Kenny’s expression.

“Your face is funny!”

            That was it.

“Let’s get you _upstairs_ already,” he murmured as he pulled Kyle after him. The redhead didn’t seem to have any comebacks for the word “upstairs” and silently let himself to be led.    

     Tiredness washed over him as Kenny took off his hat and the old orange coat. His thoughts were all over the place running around like bewildered gnomes, trying to focus on one thing and tried to list everything he knew about it.

            He suddenly stood up making Kenny lose his balance. The momentum pushed the confused blonde back to the bed as he tried to dechipher’s Kyle actions.   Kyle was determined but on what exactly--?

            Before he could finish the thought a blue notebook was pushed into his hands.

“For some reason my thoughts are all messed up. Guess I just have too many of them.” he explained.

“Look, Kyle, I really think you should go to sleep…” Kenny weakly tried to reason with him but Kyle’s brain kept going faster than a runaway train. Before Kenny noticed Kyle was already pacing around the room making him write down everything that came up in his mind.

 

            First, he told Kenny random trivias. About the origin of Winnie the Pooh, a Norwegian ice-free port, the super moon, some trivias about math (Kenny only scribbled those down because he couldn’t really comprehend them), then Kyle started complaining about South Park in general. They went a full round.

 

“But actually when you think… like really think about it then it’s not as bad.” He arrived to a conclusion after ten pages. ”Because I have friends and an _okay_ family and oh god…” he raised his voice only to continue in hushed whispers. “I actually love my friends so much. I’m glad they tolerate me even when I’m just a know it all who ruins their stupid and danguerous ways of having fun. Write that down, please.”

            Kyle lay down on his bed looking at his ceiling, while urging Kenny to record everything. The boy was already at the 15th page and seemingly he was nowhere near the end of his rant mixed with compliments. Who the hell knew Kyle has that many things to say…

            He wrote down super best friend at least eight times before they switched from Stan. However even after writing down the name Bebe Stevens and Kip Drordy, Kyle had nothing to say about him, Kenny McCormick.

            So, choosing the only logical solution, he decided to try walking around the hot furnace. “And what do you think of Kenny?”

            Kyle suddenly went silent at that. Kenny thought he would just refuse to speak, saying how it’s impossible if Kenny himself was there to say it. But on that night Kyle barely cared about who he told his opinions to.

“Promise me, you’ll write that down.” he turned toward Kenny. “That one page. Write everything down.”

“Hope you won’t roast him too much.” he laughed nervously.

“Never!” Kyle looked at him, scandalized. “Kenneth McCormick deserves only the best and… _bestest._ A five star review.”

            Kenny let out a soft chuckle as his face slowly changed into darker colour.

“Come on. He is the poor shithead of the town.”

“Well, yes. He is poor, but he is also wonderful in so many ways. Hardworking, loyal, the best brother I’ve ever seen… oh, oh, and he is passionate too! Add that to the list. “passionate”.  And he is kind hearted… it’s just…” he halted.

“Just…?” Kenny was curious now, he instinctively leant closer to Kyle.

            Kyle buried his head into his hands, ears slowly turning red as his hair. He took a deep breath then uttered the last sentence.

“Well... I think… love him… a lot. And not in the friendly way.” he looked up “Did you write that down?”

            Kenny tried to collect himself. He weakly shook his head.

“Not yet.”

“Then do it. I just told something I shouldn’t have and it would be the best if sober me remembered... Probably. Oh god! Kenny would kill me if he knew...”

_He wouldn’t..._

            He hated this. He hated it how he was forced to listen to a secret confession from the boy he liked since elementary school with no chance to respond, because by tomorrow all of this will be just a hazy memory. A splotch among Kyle’s thoughts and a ruined moment for Kenny.

            He should’ve been happy. After all, the feelings were mutual, at least. But the fact that the confession was told in drunken stupor took away the magic and the butterflies that should’ve fluttered in his chest, suffocating him, were much calmer.

             Kyle was an adorable, but an indescribably insensitive and cruel drunk.

            Something hit the notebook in his hand.

“Shit!” he hissed, trying to get rid of the wet drop on the paper, only making it more messed up. He managed to smear some of his good traits. If that wasn’t the irony of his life then he had no idea what was it.

            No matter what he did he just ended up ruining everything for himself.

            He let out a long-suffering sigh in order to get himself together. If Kyle wakes up and finds the note, he will panic and that could ruin the friendship in one way or another. He certainly didn’t want that. The only possible way to prevent his was to cut the head of the snake.

             With one strong momentum he tore the Kenny McCormick page out of the notebook, folded it and carefully placed it in his pocket. Even if it was a lie, even if it was just a jumble of nonsense, he wanted to remember it.


	2. Chapter 2

            Kyle woke up with a splitting headache. The alcohol from last night made a nasty comeback as he lay on his bed trying to recollect his scattered memories. He managed to pin three main events and organize everything else around them. The party, drinking, Kenny… he sat up on the bed only to abruptly stop with a grunt and lie back down. Someone threw a blanket over him, and a glass of water and painkillers greeted him on his nightstand. He only noticed the chocolate bar minutes later.

            _I can only hope that I didn’t make an ass out of myself._ He thought to himself as he stared tiredly at the ceiling. That black spot was still there from the time he smashed a spider with a broomstick in elementary school. Right now, he was thankful for its existence. It acted as a tiny island in the middle of the sea of migraine.

_10am_

            Was it okay to call Kenny now? Just to make sure he didn’t share his deepest darkest secrets last night. Just in case… Though, Kenny would surely call him in a few hours just to make sure he didn’t drown into his own vomit. ...As if he didn’t make sure to take Kyle home before he ever managed to drink that much.

             Fortunately his phone too, was on the nightstand on top of the notebook he bought years ago. It was cheap and looked durable enough for everyday use, but he gave up writing in it after several pages of chemical formulas.

“Weird…” he murmured and pushed the call button next to Kenny’s name. It rang a few times before a soft voice greeted him.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” Kyle ended up returning the gesture and found himself smiling as he continued uncertainly. “Hope I didn’t cause too much trouble last night…?”

            He swore he could hear Kenny’s breath hitch at the statement.

“You just rambled as usual...? Then, you got tired and got knocked out like light.” he laughed nervously. “Nothing big. Really. But for your information, you made me write down everything.”

“Let me guess, into a notebook?”

“What a terrific guess!”

“I can only hope that my past self didn’t screw over my present self…” he groaned, sipping from his water. “Thank you for everything, by the way. You even left me a chocolate bar... That’s awfully sweet of you.”

            He wanted to thank properly but once again ended up rambling even over the phone.

“Heh.... Thought your blood sugar level would drop in the morning. Guess I was right, then?”

            It was just like one of their everyday conversation, yet… Something was off. Kenny sounded not only tired, but almost uncharacteristically sullen. He was always brimming with confidence, but now he even followed his questions with another question and insecurity.

“Ken. Is everything alright? You sound tired.”

“Haven’t got much sleep last night. But I’ll live.”

“You better rest then.” Kyle couldn’t deny. He started to worry but his mind was still blocked by hangover majority of the time and it dulled his common sense. Even putting 2 & 2 together would’ve required too much brainstorming for his current self.

            But when he heard Kenny’s soft laugh and his heart did a backflip in his ribcage suddenly, he felt some deeper meaning behind those words and his lazy cogs started moving. He muttered a quiet bye before hanging up.

            It took him some time to collect enough strength to read the notebook. Also Kenny’s handwriting was nowhere near readable especially when he was tired, so Kyle needed at least three attempts before he could make out some words. That slowed him down in the beginning and left some time for self-reflection.

 

             What he held in front of him could’ve been a summarized mirror of himself. He shared every little thing he knew nobody cared about, but he was secretly proud of. The classmates. citizens of South Park, family members. All described with a pinch of salt and bitterness. The little quirks, the crazy events, their silly games….

            However, as he flipped the pages he noticed something. The page that probably contained the last chunk of his drunken thought-diarrhea had been torn out by someone. He quickly went over the names he had mentioned, even wrote a short list where he scribbled over the names he mentioned at least once. The only close friend who was missing from the list was...

“Kenny?”

            But why…? Kyle looked at the missing page, puzzled. Fortunately, Kenny pretty much carved into his notebook, so parts of the writing were still visible. _Loyal. Kind hearted. hard working. Brave._ His face slowly lost colours and turned white. The last half was written with smaller letters so he hastily reached for a pencil and started colouring over the letters, moving the tip of the pencil lightly over the paper until the entire page was dark blue filled with white letters.

            In the lower half of the page he could read “love him”. Probably as in “I love him.’ He tried colouring over love in case there was an _s_ somewhere, but no. Last night he drunkenly confessed his undying love for Kenny. He ruined everything and doesn’t even know what Kenny’s thoughts are on the matter. He probably wants to forget about everything. There could be no other reason for tearing out that page, right?

            He pulled his pillow in front of his face, but didn’t shriek. He couldn’t.

Past himself screwed him over in the worst possible way.

            Whatever he tried to build over the years crumbled before his eyes leaving a pile of trash in front of him. Landfill trash, to be exact. Not even recyclable.

 

            He tried calling Kenny an hour later, but only got a voice mail.

 

            He tried again later, but once again, voice mail.

 

            As Kyle felt his stomach churn from stress, his hands got sweaty from the hundreds of alarm ringing in his mind he could only think about one thing: He fucked this up for good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to split the last chapter. I just thought "This would make a perfect ending for a chapter"


	3. Chapter 3

 

            After he took a quick shower and washed out the last remnants of alcohol from his mouth, he got dressed and left the house in a hurry. He wanted to be _presentable._ At least, to earn some pity-points if Kenny absolutely refuses to talk with him and he has to climb in through their window.

             He tried calling the blonde on his way to the outskirts of the town several times, but he never managed to get past his voice mail. The cursed invention stood in his way like a goddamned gatekeeper.

            Was this his punishment too? Silent treatment? 

 

            When he arrived to the McCormick house, he tried to ring the bell only to get reminded, that it broke years ago and occasionally would sting his index finger whenever he didn’t wear gloves. Knocking was the only option, thus facing uncomfortable questions. Kyle took a deep breath and warned the entire family of his presence.

            Minutes felt like hours until he saw the door opening slowly. A short little girl looked back at him, her face revealed almost no amount of surprise.

“Hi, Karen,” he waved at her lamely. “Is Kenny at home?”

            The girl only shook her head in response. She seemed to be lost in thoughts before she finally spoke to him.

“Hmm… Did you two have a fight?”

“No. As far as I know.”

“Good. _You two_ shouldn’t fight,” Karen nodded in agreement, but her curiosity was piqued. “But something must’ve happened! It’s not like you to come rushing after my brother and I’ve never seen him so disheveled. He almost suffocated on a glass of water.”

“Actually… I accidentally hurt his feelings by saying something I shouldn’t have.” he decided to be honest with her. It seemed to be the shortest way to find Kenny. “I want to talk to him… to make things right again.”

           

            While Karen knew little about Kyle’s and Kenny’s peculiar inner workings, one thing was clear even for her: Kyle was not there to hurt his brother. No, he was there to piece him together after whatever happened last night. According to Kyle they didn’t have a fight, and this brought her back to a very important question…

“Kyle, you didn’t do anything to my brother, right?”

“W-What?! N-No! Of course not. We just talked! Well, I talked…” Despite the cool weather he could feel himself melting under his orange coat. “I’d never––!”

            Karen couldn’t help but laugh at Kyle’s embarrassed face. “Relax. I know. Just wanted to make sure, before I tell you more! My brother is probably at Stark’s Pond feeding the ducks or throwing rocks. You know him.”

“Yeah….” he was about to dash away despite his headache, but before that he turned back to Karen. “Thank you. I swear I’ll....”

“I know. Just make sure you don’t scare him out of his daze. Remember, my brother broke his nose because he got so lost in his thoughts that he walked straight into a lamp post.” she smiled then closed the door. Oh, Kyle remembered all right, because he was the one who tried to stop the bleeding as they sat on the sidewalk with blood-soaked tissues.

 

***

 

            After leaving the McCormick’s house behind him, Kyle let his legs take him through South Park, while he tried to ignore the dizzying headache that cut into his brain whenever his feet hit the ground. This really wasn’t what he should be doing while fighting dear old hangover.

            Yet, he didn’t really complain (rather, he had no right to complain) and ran past the Church straight toward the small lake on the other side of the town. Next time, Kenny wants to hide from the world he should just go to their attic. Damn it.

 

            He went around the small park searching for traces of a familiar orange parka, but Murphy’s Law did his best to hide any clues and only present him the prize when he was deemed worthy.

            Kenny was skipping rocks, standing ankles deep in the shallow icy water of the lake, his shoes were left on the shore.

_1...2...3…_

            The rock skipped three times before the water swallowed it. Kenny automatically bent down and reached for another one in the water.

_1...2…_

            It submerged with a pitiful sound.

            Kyle couldn’t decide if Kenny was sad, angry or both. Or perhaps just disappointed. His parka was on his head which in no way could be interpreted as good omen. Especially, because lately Kenny was wearing it less often and only pulled it on when he decided the world didn’t need to see or hear him.

             It would be the only normal course of action, if he found out that one of his best friends have feelings for him. Honestly, Kyle couldn’t really blame him for it.

 

            He slowly approached to boy. When he was only few steps away from the water, he softly called his name.

“Kenny…”

            But the blonde didn’t turn around just reached for another rock.

“Kenny!”

            This time, he threw the rock as far as possible.

_1…_

“Why are you here?” he murmured into the soft fur of his hoodie.

“Why am _I_ here? Seriously?!” he tried to sound angry, but his voice suddenly lost its power. He was too tired get angry at Kenny. “Did you just ask that?”

“I guess.” Kenny shrugged indifferently; his words got muffled as he turned around.

            Kyle heaved a suffering sigh. “You didn’t answer my calls. Only voice mail. You weren’t at home. I… panicked!”

            He was about to step into the water in order to reach Kenny and close that four metres distance between them. Kyle wanted to see his eyes at least, before he made an ass out of himself and ruined everything.

“Don’t come in.” Kenny’s voice stopped him. “You will catch cold.”

“Then you should come out before _you_ catch cold!” Kyle countered almost immediately.

“I can’t do that.”

“All right! Then I’ll go after you.”

“No! Don’t you dare…!” He warned the redhead.

“I’ll go in and I don’t give a rat’s ass about cold. At least, you would visit me at the hospital, because I’m––”

            He couldn’t finish the sentence. Kenny kicked up water as he walked toward him with an annoyed look.

“Fine. Happy now?”

“No. I’ll be happy when we finally talk like human beings and not like two chicks from a soap opera.” stated Kyle with outstretched arms.

            Kenny let out a small chuckle at this. He tried to keep the air at bay but it still forced its way through his nose, turning his stifled laugh into a snort.

“Okay! Okay!” He raised his hands in defence. Kyle used his momentary mistake and grabbed Kenny, finally completely pulling him out of the water. “Hey!”

“Take back your socks and boots! I don’t want you to freeze.” he ordered Kenny.

“My legs are still wet though. And now they are dirty.”

“Well, nobody told you to stand in the water in the first place,” Kyle growled at him, but his voice was similar to the tone he used whenever Stan did something stupid. It was firm, yet held some hidden and rather soothing kindness within. “Seriously. What has gotten into you…?”

            He produced a packet of paper tissues from his pocket throwing it toward Kenny. “Here.”

 

 

            However as the debate over boots was gone, Kyle’s previous vigor followed in its wake. He had no idea how to continue or let alone start explaining himself. He didn’t want Kenny to misunderstand anything, but he still wanted to apologize for throwing the facts at him in his drunken stupor.

            Kyle decided to try playing it safe for now. He can choose the appropriate plan based on Kenny’s reaction.

“I checked the notebook. I’m sorry you had to write down all that shit… I rambled a lot, didn’t I?”

“Lot. That’s nowhere near it.” Kenny laughed lightly.

            Kyle decided to risk asking about the missing page. “But the last page was torn out… I hope it wasn’t something hurtful....”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“That’s good to hear. Can I read it?” he inquired. “You know, to make sure--”

“Nope.” Kenny cut into his sentence and took a step back with his right hand in his pocket.

            Kyle raised an eyebrow at this.

“You told me it isn’t hurtful. Yet I can’t see it,” he pointed out.

“Because it’s… it’s... “ Kenny paused with a sigh, his gaze was firmly set on the ground. “Look… They’re actually the nicest words anyone ever said to me. It’s selfish. You don’t even remember saying them, yet I still want to treasure that page…”

“Ken… look at me.” Kyle called him softly carefully pushing down Kenny’s parka. “Even when I’m not drunk I think you are loyal, hardworking, kind, have a heart of gold.”

“Stop...” Kenny had a lone teardrop rolling down his face, he grimaced as he tried to push down his emotions.

“Even when I’m not drunk, I love you.”

“You… You sneaky bastard!” Kenny gave him a look, tears still streaming down his face however his voice held no anger. If the topic of their conversation was different, he would certainly compliment Kyle for this stunt.

“Well, I…. after everything that has happened I had to be sneaky! I fucked up enough things for a year.” Kyle smiled at him sheepishly.

            Kenny nodded in agreement, trying to smudge the tears off his face. “Yes. Yes you did!”

“I’m sorry you had to hear it like that!” Kyle blushed, his words got faster as he started rambling. “I had a grandiose plan about the whole proposal, but in the end I didn’t do any of it, instead proclaimed my love in the lamest way possible. Which is good because I didn’t get rejected, but also bad because I don’t know what you felt, so maybe I was rejected. I understand, if you don’t want to see me anymore... ”

            He expected Kenny to lash out, sending him away and cut all connections, or at least punch him, but instead Kenny let out a weak laugh.

“You thought I wouldn’t want to see you anymore?” he teased. Kyle suddenly felt dumb. This didn’t make any sense anymore.

“B-But you were angry. You never answered my calls, you came here––”

“To cool off and collect my thoughts.” Kenny answered calmly. “I _was_ angry, but not because you confessed!”

            Kyle took a step closer. “Then why?”

“I imagined it differently. First time anyone ever confessed to me and he doesn’t even remember it. Can you imagine how much that hurt?”

            He had to admit, Kenny had a point. A good point. And since honesty brought him this far, Kyle decided to test his luck a bit more.

“I know, this won’t make you feel better, but I had planned everything out, at least twice. There is a page filled with ideas on how I should ask you out, possible places, diagrams, outcomes–” he was about to go into the details when he felt a gloved hand on his mouth, halting his pointless rambling before he made an even bigger mess in his mind.

            Their important first memories together will remain plans scribbled down on a crumpled paper, hidden at the bottom of his drawer.

            Kenny knew this as well, and frankly, he didn’t need reminders about how _perfect_ the big revelation could’ve been. He knew it by heart that Kyle probably had everything planned out in order to sweep him off his feet.

“Kyle, that train is long gone. It waited and waited for us but in the end, decided to leave.” Kenny sighed wearing a smile, letting his hand fall back to his side. “We just have to catch the next one.”

“I’m afraid. It won’t be like the Orient Express, though.” Kyle smiled back at him, slowly growing more confident.

“I hope so. People died on the Orient Express. A local train is perfectly fine, if I can ride it with you.” Kenny noted. “So... if you would ask me out on a date, like, right now, what would you say?”

            And there it was, his big chance to correct what his brain ruined for him.

“Probably something embarrassing. I would start by saying how much I thought about this, trying to come up with a logical answer because these emotions make me want to scream. How each time I look at your smile my heart does a little dance in my ribcage and I think, yes I want to be by his side to see this more.” Kyle was shaking from stress. “Then I would ask you out on a date. Take you somewhere. Depending on my wallet, I’d recommend you a place I know you like––”

“Or we could cook something together.”

“Yeah. But I wanted it to be special.”

“Oh, trust me it would be special.”

            In all his life, he mostly lived on canned food, stale bread, ice-cold waffles and whatever cheap food his parents could afford from the frozen food section. He got food when he tagged along with his friends, but it counted as a miracle because life itself was hell-bent on ruining everything for them.

“But you know what else would be special?” he asked leaning closer. “If you just stopped walking in circles around the topic and said the thing I want to hear the most.”

            He slowly wrapped his arms around Kyle’s hips pulling him closer.

“I thought that was obvious enough already.” he redhead chuckled weakly and he gave him a quick peck on the lips as if he was testing the waters. “I love you, dimwit.”

“The feeling is mutual.” He told Kyle as he leant forward. He had never kissed anyone before, but he was past the point of worrying about doing something wrong. He couldn’t help but smile into the kiss, pulling Kyle even closer as the redhead sneakily ran his hand through Kenny’s hair.

            They broke the kiss when their noses accidentally bumped when they moved their head in the same direction, but even then they could only laugh pressing their foreheads together.

“I love you too.” Kenny breathed. This didn’t how he imagined it. It wasn’t a scene straight out of a romantic movie, background dancers didn’t appear, praising their love, but it was still a dreamlike experience.

            He was about to question it. Maybe he died and this was all just a fever dream before he gets revived one more time. However, his stomach made itself known by grumbling loudly, ruining the moment. Kyle jumped a little, taking a step back but his smile didn’t waver even for a minute.

“I think I’ll take you up on that offer. Cooking together sounds like a nice compensation after last night.” Kenny blushed then he pulled Kyle close again.

            Yes. Nothing is more romantic than burning down the kitchen together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh god I can't believe this is the end. Writing this was a ride, a really good kind of ride, actually. This is definitely not the last time you've seen me! I actually have two multi-chap ideas, but I think they still need some planning and time to grow. 
> 
> Thank you all for reading this story until the end!

**Author's Note:**

> The title comes from the cheesy 60's song. 
> 
> Also the game they play is real. I think the official name is Kakerlakensuppe.


End file.
